Gayle's Fastest Ton Helps RCB Crush Pune

Times of India

April 23, 2013

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NEW DELHI: Riding on Chris Gayle's unbeaten 66-ball 175, Royal Challengers Bangalore registered a crushing 130-run win over Pune Warriors in their IPL match at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Chris Gayle rubbed more salt in Pune Warriors' wounds when he picked up two wickets in the final over of the innings.

Chasing a record total of 263, Pune Warriors could only score 133 for the loss of nine wickets.

Pune Warriors India lost half of their side at the score of 100 in their IPL match against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Pune team reached the 100-run mark in 78 balls. Seamer Ravi Rampaul picked up his second and Bangalore's fifth when he dismissed Steven Smith, who scored a brisk 31-ball 41 with the help of six boundaries.

Murali Karthik gave Bangalore first breakthrough as he dismissed Pune's Robin Uthappa in the very second ball of the first over.

Ravi Rampaul picked up the second wicket for Bangalore when he sent skipper Aaron Finch back in the dug out.

Seamer Jaydev Unadkat picked up two quick wickets as he scalped Luke Wright and Yuvraj Singh to dent Pune's mammoth run chase

Earlier, Chris Gayle hit the fastest century in the history of professional cricket blasting an incredible 175 off 66 balls as Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a record 263 for five against Pune Warriors.

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Gayle hit the fastest century, off just 30 balls, and the highest-ever individual score in a T20 game surpassing Kolkata Knight Riders' Brendon McCullum who hit 158 off 73 balls against RCB at this very Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Incidentally, RCB's total was also the highest-ever total in any T20 game.

Put into bat, it was 'Gayle Force' that blew away the Pune Warriors as the big-bodied Jamaican showed his power-hitting ability as he struck 13 fours and 17 sixes en route the fastest ever T20 century off only 30 balls. 154 out of his 175 runs came in boundaries and off only 30 scoring strokes.

Typically, he brought up his century with a six off Ashoke Dinda that sailed over the stadium and in the process also damaged the roof.

The carnage started from the second over bowled by rookie paceman Ishwar Pandey. Playing his first IPL match, Pandey found out what top-level cricket was all about as Gayle hit him for five boundaries taking 21 runs of that over.

Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Finch got even worst treatments as they went for 28 and 29 runs in their respective overs as both were clobbered for four sixes each.

There was minimum fuss as usual in Gayle's batting as he barely had any footwork. It was just stand and deliver as the ball kept on sailing into the stands and there was little that skipper Finch could have done.

Intimidated by this mayhem, the Pune bowlers could only go through the motion. All the three changes made by Pune backfired as Pandey gave away 33 in two overs while left-arm spinner Ali Murtaza conceded 45 from his two overs.

It was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who returned unscathed with figures of 0 for 23 from four overs.

Marsh, who came back in place Ajantha Mendis, was hammered for 56 in three overs while the profligate Dinda went for 48 off four overs.

Gayle and Dilshan added 167 runs for the opening stand with Tillakaratne Dilshan (33). Such was the ferocity of Gayle that Dilshan didn't even cross 20 when Gayle reached three-figure mark.

AB de Villiers also played his part to perfection with a cameo scoring 31 off eight balls (3x4, 3x6).